Tangled: A Twist
by Catherine Jamaica
Summary: What if Rapunzel was not captured by Grothel? What if Rapunzel did not grow up in the tower? What if Flynn Rider is someone who she extremely hates? What if the story of Tangled itself is tangled? Will everything still be the same?
1. Chapter 1: Adventure Awaits

(Hi! This is my first fanfic series ever. I hope you'll like it!)

Part 1: Adventure Awaits

Every year, the kingdom celebrates an evening festival dedicated to a long deceased woman who saved my mother's life by discovering an herbal cure for her terminal illness. Every year, we raise a thousand floating lanterns and seem them light the dark sky in honor of this woman. It is sad that the villagers do not know her name and always mention her as "that woman from the tower" or "the petulant, old lady" or "she who saved thy queen". This is a kingdom tradition what we have been doing for more than a decade. And every year, I am curious about who she is.

I also wonder what tower they were talking about. It is shameful that I've been living for almost 18 years of my life and I am not knowledgeable about my mother's rescuer. It would be lovely if I could go to her home, pay my respects there and thank her at her rightful place.

What I _do_ know is that her tower is deep into the forest, which is a little far from the castle. The villagers say she did not entertain visitors, and was ill-tempered in the morning, so she decided to put her tower somewhere where people do not go to. And I'm going to find where that is.

With only a few hours before the festival, I wore slack garments and twisted my hair into a knot so that nobody would notice me. I sneaked to the stable, browsed through the slumbering horses and looked for the tall, white, palace horse. And there he – taking his afternoon nap. "Maximus!" I hissed. "Come, boy!" At first, he would not budge, but I gave him morsels of bread I 'borrowed' from the kitchen so he agreed to follow. My mother and father are busy having a lunch and amusing their guests – they would not notice I was gone.

Maximus and I galloped along the tunnel east of the castle. This area is frequently deserted because nobody ever wants to take the long way to the village. Only I pass this path often whenever I want to take a short walk by the garden.

The wind slapped melodramatically against my hair, and my vision was blurred by streaks of brown here and there. I was past the trail of pallid cement, now dashing through grounds of green and brown. A little more and I would be in the depths of the forest.

Where could it be? Maximus's strides mirrored my uncertain guide as we searched for the tower despite the darkness of the forest. "Help me, Max. Where could the tower be?" I whispered. And as if he understood me, he stiffened and began smelling. "What is it, boy?" He continued smelling and abruptly stopped in front of a curtain of emerald veins.

"You sure this is it, boy?" I hopped off Maximus and stood beside him. "Hm…" I went through the emerald veins to get a view of what was beyond it. It took me a few seconds to adjut my eyesight to this brightness, and then there I saw it – a ruin of an old tower.

"You wait here, Max. Okay?" He blinked and I started walking towards the tower. It was beautiful. It was surrounded by tall waterfalls and mountains. The body of the tower was filled with veins of green and brown. The windows had a Roman theme, and the tip was a violet, sharp cone. Everything was mesmerizing…

"Hey! You!"

I could not imagine how anyone could abandon this place…

"Brownie! I'm talking to you!"

If I only I brought my sketchpad… Wait, was there someone there?

"After 10 years! You _finally_ heard me!" I saw a man who must have come from behind the tower. He was a tall, brawny lad, had his eyebrows raised, wearing a green vest and with a brown satchel over his shoulders.

"I am_ so_ sorry, the tower is just so… Do you live here?" I walked towards him and realized that he looked exceptionally familiar. "Excuse me, do I-" And then I knew.

He is the most sought after criminal in the kingdom. The man our guards have searched for with constant defeat. The man whose face is posted on almost every post in the village. The man who stole my crown. _He_ was Flynn Rider.


	2. Chapter 2: Nothing To Lose

(Chapter two in Tangled: A Twist! Italisized portions are flashbacks. Hope you enjoy and wait for more!)

**Part 2: Nothing To Lose**

"_Another job well done Rider!" I told myself. From a distance, I could hear yells and swift steps coming closer. I placed the crown in my satchel and ran as fast as I could. It was just a crown, anyway. What could possibly happen?_

"It's been two years since we've been staying here, buddy." The gold on my palms sparkled. It was so absurd that I went all the way to the castle to steal this crown, and then later realized that I couldn't sell it here. Or else, I would have gotten my butt kicked by some badass villager.

The next village is a few miles from here. Since I already stole the princess's crown, I really wouldn't mind stealing a horse-

"Is that… a woman in my hideout?" I immediately shoved the crown into my satchel and yelled, "Hey!" I kept calling out, but it seemed like she couldn't hear me. She was far but close enough for me to see how tall she was and that she had long, brunette hair that fell just below her chest. Her gaze was fixed on the tower. She stared at it like she's never seen anything like this before.

After a few more yells, she looked at me and noticed my presence for the first time. She mumbled some words I didn't hear.

She moved a bit closer and I see that she has these large, green eyes glaring at me with a mixture of slight recognition and confusion. I could have sworn I've seen this face before…

And then suddenly, I knew.

I should have run. What a mistake. I really should have. Instead, I stood there masking my horror with a smirk.

I knew this was Princess Rapunzel. Who didn't? But after 7 years of my stay here in this tower, never have I seen her _this_ close – until today.

And with that look she had on her face, I knew that she knew me, too.


	3. Chapter 3: The Rider

**Part 3: The Rider**

"_Rapunzel, darling, THIS is how you water the plants," said Ms. Ginnepont frustratingly while demonstrating proper care of plants from a book 'Living By Laws of Nature'. She tilted the watering can with her pinky up, and sprinkles of water poured to the vegetables. "You do not drown the crops, or you will kill them. You have to be nice to them."_

Oh, I am not going to be nice. No, I am not.

I felt the anger rush to my face in a split-second after I saw the smirk arise from his lips. "FLYNN RIDER! WHERE IS MY CROWN!"

"Huh. I hid it where you, or anyone in this kingdom, will NEVER find it." He smirked some more.

I raised a brow. "It's in that satchel, isn't it?"

"O-ofcourse not!"

"Give it to me! Or I… or…"

Flynn chuckled. "Call the guards? We aren't in YOUR palace, missy. We're in mine." He stuck out his tongue.

I raced towards him with rage, but he ran past me and headed to the forest.

"RIDEEEERRRR!"

He roared a villainous laugh and went out the vein curtain. I ran after him, and when I got outside, my mouth went ajar.

He took Maximus.

But then I heard a noise from behind the trees. It was obvious that he struggled with his ride, because Maximus gave loud exclaims of refusal. "Bad donkey!" And Max neighed louder.

"Having difficulties, ruffian?" I mocked.

"Your pet's hopeless!"

"Do not blame the horse. He is a lot smarter than you think." I came nearer. "Max, kick!" Maximus extended a leg and smacked Rider on his left leg.

"Ow!" Rider crumpled his face in pain and held his thigh.

"Just give me back my crown, and all is settled."

"Over my dead body." Then he quickly climbed onto Maximus despite the pain he felt and Maximus's resistance.

"No!" I grabbed his satchel from his body, but he was pulled along and accidentally bit Maximus's tail.

What happened next was a blur. All I know is that I was dragged along while Maximus ran wild, and I fell on a humongous pile of leaves. I yelped in pain.


	4. Chapter 4: Depths of Green

I was yelling "Boo-ya!" several times and doing some victory moves of my own when I noticed Rapunzel let go of my satchel. But then I spun around and saw her sitting on a bundle of leaves, back slouched and sobbing.

And I hated seeing girls cry.

I hopped off the horse, and ran towards her. She was gripping her right arm tightly. I bent down to reach for her. "Hey, are you-"

"Don't touch me, thug!" She yelled. Then she continued sobbing.

"Gosh… Look. I… Well…" I gave my head a scratch. _What should I do_? "Umm.. I've never said this to anyone in my whole life. Except my dead grandmother who always bought me ginger cookies for my afternoon snack. Umm… But, uh… I'm really.." I winced, "sorry."

"Quit talking, okay? Just... go away. Go, get my crown. Get my horse. Get whatever you wish to take. Just… leave!"

"Tell me what's wrong with your arm first. Maybe I can fix it. Let me see."

And the look on her face scared me. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Her face had spots of mud and tears raced down her cheeks. But her green eyes still sparkled. "You steal, you run, and then you go back and check if I'm alright? Are you mentally ill!"

"Just let me check your arm!" I muttered through my teeth. I disarmed myself of my satchel and placed it on the ground beside her. She turned silent and looked down. Then, slowly, she let go of her right arm. It was bleeding.

"Good lord."

I picked some long leaves from the plants nearby and wrapped them around her arm. She grunted in pain, so I muttered, "Sorry." She replied with a whisper, "It's fine."

Strands of hair were on her face. I wondered if maybe I could tuck in behind her ear-

_What the hell was I thinking?_ I erased the thought from my head. I opened my satchel and got a scarf that I stole from a villager and tied it around her arm to put the leaves in place.

For a moment, I caught her eye. There was a different kind of fire in those depths of green, igniting a sensation in me that maybe somehow, she felt too.

But it was like water had extinguished the flames and, as quickly as it came, the fire was gone.


	5. Chapter 5: Victory Dance

I saw how his eyes are a painting of the ocean but the shimmer of a pearl. His gaze held my own, and I suddenly felt light and flustered. The feelings slightly numbed my pain. Is he feeling it, too? Could he-

No. No. No, it is not possible. What is going on with me? Why am I letting myself go like this?

I turned my head away, and pulled my arm back. "Um… thanks. I-I have to get back to the palace now." I stood to leave then a sharp, searing pain shot through my entire right leg. "Owwwwww…"

"Just sit down. You don't want leaves on your legs too, do you?" He gently pulled me back to the ground. "Why are you in so much of a hurry, anyway?"

"First of all, you are the pilferer of my crown." He chuckled. "Second, I have to attend the evening festival tonight and- Oh! I have to go to the tower!" I rose to my feet again and felt the same prickling sensation through my leg.

He snatched me back down once again. "Woah, woah, woah. And… why do you want to go to that tower? That's been empty for several years now. Except, well, when I'm there."

"You see, the story goes like this…" I narrated to him about how I heard from the villagers that the old woman, the one who saved my mother and to whom the festival is dedicated to, lived in that tower. I also told him about how I wanted to see her house and thank her there since I did not know anything about her. Or that I probably thought about having the dwelling be recognized by the whole kingdom (a thought that only popped in my head just now) and name a portion of the land after her. Flynn just narrowed his eyes and nodded all through-out my rambling.

"I see. Hmm.." He twisted his goatee. "I don't think you should go there because of… well…" he pointed to my leg, "your condition." He smiled. "Let's wait until it gets better."

"You're right. I should just return here in two days, perhaps, or-"

"What 'returning' are you speaking of?" Flynn interrupted.

"I'll go back home, and-"

He chuckled. "Huh. No, missy. I, Flynn Rider the pilferer, am holding you captive," he said with a smirk.

I gasped. "No. NO. You are NOT doing this to me." I stood and bit my lip to saturate the pain and limped to Maximus. "Max!"

But ofcourse, he got there faster than I did. "Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you go just like that."

He pushed me against a tree, with one arm leaning on the bark. His breath tickled my cheek as he whispered on my ear, "Not yet."

For some reason, I thought he was going to rape me. So, I used my left leg to kick his ankle. "Don't touch me!"

"Goodness!" He yelped and massaged his ankle. "Not those boots, missy. Not those boots. And I was just going to take you out for supper, that's all. To make up for the mess."

He smiled an almost convincingly genuine smile. But deep inside, I really was convinced.

"Fine. Just supper. And I'll head home."

He danced his victory dance.


End file.
